British Dental Association

The British Dental Association (BDA) is one of the professional associations and trade unions representing dentists in the United Kingdom with 20,000 members and 3,500 student members. It is based in the Marylebone district of central London. As a trade union, it undertakes the task of negotiating for all dentists under s.43b of the NHS Act 1977. As a Special register body it is exempt inter alia from the requirement in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 to hold democratic elections for some office holders. It owns the publications, BDA News and Launchpad (aimed at dental students). It runs a national conference, with attendances in excess of 3,000 dentists, runs seminars and events, an accreditation programme (the "Good Practice Scheme") and a range of clinical, legal and managerial advice services.

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As the primary negotiating body of the dental profession, and a leading producer of clinical standards in the dental market, the BDA has come under criticism from a number of disaffected dentists claiming it lacks the will to lobby the government effectively on dentists' terms and conditions. Other organisations claiming to represent sections of the dental community are the Dental Practitioners' Association (formerly the General Dental Practitioners' Association) and Challenge (founded in 2006 in response to the new NHS dental contract). However, most dentists in the UK are members of the BDA.

In 2005 the BDA withdrew from talks with the UK Government aimed at reorganising dentistry in the National Health Service, however it later voted to take up membership of the Government's new contract Implementation Review Group. It justified this decision by referring to its duty to protect its members interests in preference to political posturing. The BDA continues to lobby for reform of NHS dental services, especially the recent reforms in primary care.

Regulation of dentists

The BDA is not the regulatory body for dentists in the United Kingdom. Dentists are regulated by the General Dental Council.

British Dental Association Museum

The British Dental Association has a museum which opened to the public in 2005. The museum is open Tuesday and Thursday from 1-4pm. Other times by appointment. During holidays please telephone before visiting. Admission Free. The museum is located at BDA Headquarters 64 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8YS Telephone: 020 7935 0875 Fax: 020 7935 6492 Email: museum@bda.org

British Dental Association Information Centre

The British Dental Association has an Information Centre which opened to members in its new Wimpole Street location in 1967 (however the library was established at one of the BDA's previous locations in 1920 by Lilian Lindsay, its first Honorary Librarian). It is the most comprehensive dental library in Europe, and is open from Monday to Friday, from 9am-6pm. Admission is free to members. It is not open to non-members except for bona fide academic researchers and then by prior appointment only. The Information Centre is located at BDA Headquarters 64 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8YS Telephone: 020 7563 4545 Fax: 020 7935 6492